Tap for liquids



April l5, 1958 w. F. DALE ETAL TAP FOR LIQUIDS Filed June 16, 1955 INVENTORS ,Zafumf ATTORNEYS United States Patent O i TAP FOR LIQUIDS Walter Francis Dale, West Brunswick, Victoria, and Henry George Anderson, Coburg, Victoria, Australia, assignors to` Joseph John Casey, Melbourne, Victoria, Australia Application June 16, 1955, Serial No, 515,992

1 Claim. (Cl. 251-214) This invention relates -to a springloaded tap which is primarily intended for use as a beer tap but which could be used for other liquids such as oils for example.

The main objects of this invention are to provide a seal which isolates the spring-loading of the tap from the liquid in the tap much more electively than has been possible previously, and to prov-ide a tap which can be very readily assembled and disassembled and which can be cleaned without the necessity for disconnecting many lof the parts from the others.

According to this invention, a ltap for liquids comprises a hollow body, a liquid inlet and a liquid outlet in said body, a valve seat in said liquid outlet, a valve adapted to co-operate with said valve seat, a chamber in said body, an actuating plunger carrying said valve and extending into said chamber, spring-loading in said chamber for said actuating plunger adapted to press said valve against said valve seat, an annular sealing member and spring-loading therefor both positioned in said chamber and adapted to seal the chamber from the liquid in the tap, and operating means adapted to move said actuating plunger against the action of the spring-loading thereof.

The accompanying drawings show the preferred detailed construction of the tap. In these drawings- Figure l is a plan view of the tap,

Figure 2 is a sectional elevation on the line 2-2 of Figure l,

Figure 3 is an enlarged sectional view of portion of the tap showing in particular the details of the springcovering chamber, and

Figure 4 is a view similar to Figure 3 but with the plunger in a more open position.

The preferred detailed construction ofthe tap will now be described.

Use is made of a guide formed in two parts 1 and 2. The lower part 1 at its upper end has a threaded extension 1A of smaller diameter and this is adapted to be screwed into the internally threaded end 2A of the upper part 2. An annular packing 3 is provided between the upper part 2 and a shoulder 1B on the lower part. The upper part 2 has an externally threaded portion 2B which engages an internally threaded portion 4A of the body 4 of the tap, the annular packing 3 extending between the part 2 and the body 4 as shown. The shoulder 1B is provided with ilats 1C to facilitate assemblage. The head 5C of the plunger carries a valve 6 which lits against a valve seat l in the nozzle. The stem of the plunger passes as shown, with a neat sliding t, through an opening 5A in the part 1. The stem 5 is preferably of smaller diameter than the head of the plunger. The body 4 of the tap, of course, surrounds the guide and plunger 5C, 5. Said body 4 is provided `with a liquid inlet tube 8 and an outlet port 9 which communicate with `a chamber formed by said body. The upper portion of the part 2 of the guide extends upwardly beyond its said externally threaded portion, and the stem of the plunger passes right up through the top of this upward extension 2C and its t 2,830,787 Patented Apr. 15, 1958 ice upper end is threaded or otherwise adapted to engage the this collar the lower end of the loading spring 1S ofthe plunger bears. The upper end of this latter spring 18 bears against the upper end 2D of said part 2.

The gland 13 between the stem of the plunger and the lower end of the guide is thus constantly under the compression of its loading spring and so is forced into tight engagement with the stem of the plunger and with the face 1D of the lower end of the part 1 so that, although the stem of the plunger can slide freely through the opening in the end of the part 1, a fluid-tight seal is maintained between the stem and the lower end of the guide. As the spring-loading of the gland is separate from that of the plunger, the pressure on the gland is constant.

The plunger may be actuated by any convenient means but preferably a rotatable or partly rotatable head 19 carries studs 20 along a cam track 21 and is held in position by a washer 22A and nuts 22 engaging the threaded end of the stem of the plunger, which extends through a hole in the head. The head is provided with an operating handle 23 and with a threaded cap 24. The beer or other liquid enters through the inlet tube 8 and is discharged through the outlet port 9 of a nozzle 25 lon the body 4.

When it is desired to wash the tap all that is necessary is to remove the cap 24, nuts 22, washer 22A, head 19 and cam track 21 and to remove the unit, consisting of the plunger and its stem, and the guide and springs housed therein, from the body 4 of the tap. This unit can be immersed in Washing liquor without any necessity for disassembling the parts of the unit.

The valve 6 is formed of rubber or like resilient maten'al is somewhat dome-shaped. It is held in position by a small metal tip 6A which is centrally positioned in relation to the valve. The head of the plunger is streamlined so that turbulence is minimized in the beer or other liquid as it ows out of the tap.

When the stem is raised, through the cam-operated or other actuating mechanism, by movement of the handle, the valve is lifted from its seat. When the handle is released the spring-loading closes the valve on its seat instantaneously. Movement of the handle is limited by the engagement of a stop pin 26 with one or other of two shoulders 27 positioned about 180 degrees apart.

The guide being of hollow construction and in combination with the parts 5, 10, 12 and 13 provides a fluid-tight chamber for the springs 12 and 18.

We claim:

In a tap for liquids, an outer hollow body, a hollow guide having an internal, axialy extending compartment, said guide being screwed into said body and forming therewith a liquid chamber, said body having an inlet and an outlet communicating with said chamber, a seat on said body adjacent said outlet, a discharge control valve plunger extending through and spaced from the internal compartment walls of said guide, having axial movement with respect thereto and having a valve movable onto and off of said seat, axialy spaced collars loose on said plunger and disposed within one portion of the compartment of said guide, a gland surrounding a portion of said plunger and interposed between one of said collars and said guide, the other one of said collars abutting said guide, a compression spring arranged about the aforesaid portion of the plunger and interposed between said collars in contact therewith so as to retain said gland in contact with said guide and thereby seal the compartment of the guide against ingress `of fluid from the liquid chamber, said internal compartment ofthe guide having a second portion disposed axially of the said one portion thereof and said plunger having a shoulder in said second compartment, a collar disposed within said second portion of the compartment of the guide and loosely carried on said plu-nger and bearing on said shoulder, and a compression spring arranged about said plunger within said second portion Iof the compartment and interposed between said last mentioned collar and said guide so as to yieldingly urge said plunger to hold the valve thereof onto said seat.

References Cited in the lle of this patent UNITED STATES PATENTS 

